A new study shows Republicans have grown more critical of the state of American morality, Gallup reports.

In a May poll, 51 percent reported that present moral conditions are "poor." This shows an increase of 15 percent since 2006. The increase in criticism was not seen among Democrats or independents, according to Gallup's Lydia Saad.

From 2006 to 2007, the percentage reporting a "poor" opinion of the state of moral values increased from 36 percent to 51 percent, which is the level it remained at until the most recent study.

Saad offers this analysis:

"Americans are reliably negative when it comes to rating moral values in the country. Since 2002, a majority of Americans have consistently said the state of moral values is less than good and getting worse.

"Apart from this general pattern, Republicans' disaffection with the nation's moral climate (but not Democrats' or independents') has been elevated over the past two years, A number of "values" issues have been in the news in recent years, including gay marriage, pop-star misbehavior, and reports of high-profile elected officials involved in sex-related scandals, but it is unclear that any of these are responsible for the pattern in the data.

"Whatever the cause, this may signal that Republicans will be particularly anxious to elect a new president this November who will help to uphold or restore the values they now find lacking in the country."

The study does not find a reason why Republicans have grown more critical of the state of moral values.

However, a 2007 Gallup study showed broad differences in opinion between liberals, moderates and conservatives on a range of topics including sex between unmarried men and women, abortion, homosexuality and having a baby outside of marriage.

The most widely agreed a upon issue was the death penalty, with 66 percent of Americans polled considering it morally acceptable and 27 percent finding it morally wrong. The agreement transcended age, gender and political party during that study.

Here are some results of Gallup's 2007 study:

Percentage Calling Each "Morally Acceptable"
May 10-13, 2007

Comments

Conservatives crack me up! They disagre with abortion because they believe it is murder but they agree to the death penalty? Un HELLO!!
They also have pretty high numbers when it comes to divorce and yet their party is full of guys married multiple times! And medical testing on innocent animals is so morally correct in their minds! These people are just not normal Im sorry!

Since the Swamp is citing polls about morality, one wonders how they missed the poll results published in last week's LA Examiner:

"Is it OK to cheat on your taxes? A total of 57 percent of those who described themselves as “very liberal” said yes in response to the World Values Survey, compared with only 20 percent of those who are “very conservative.” When Pew Research asked whether it was “morally wrong” to cheat Uncle Sam, 86 percent of conservatives agreed, compared with only 68 percent of liberals.

Ponder this scenario, offered by the National Cultural Values Survey: “You lose your job. Your friend’s company is looking for someone to do temporary work. They are willing to pay the person in cash to avoid taxes and allow the person to still collect unemployment. What would you do?”

Almost half, or 49 percent, of self-described progressives would go along with the scheme, but only 21 percent of conservatives said they would.

When the World Values Survey asked a similar question, the results were largely the same: Those who were very liberal were much more likely to say it was all right to get welfare benefits you didn’t deserve.

The World Values Survey found that those on the left were also much more likely to say it is OK to buy goods that you know are stolen. Studies have also found that those on the left were more likely to say it was OK to drink a can of soda in a store without paying for it and to avoid the truth while negotiating the price of a car.

Another survey by Barna Research found that political liberals were two and a half times more likely to say that they illegally download or trade music for free on the Internet.

A study by professors published in the American Taxation Association’s Journal of Legal Tax Research found conservative students took the issue of accounting scandals and tax evasion more seriously than their fellow liberal students. Those with a “liberal outlook” who “reject the idea of absolute truth” were more accepting of cheating at school, according to another study, involving 291 students and published in the Journal of Education for Business.

A study in the Journal of Business Ethics involving 392 college students found that stronger beliefs toward “conservatism” translated into “higher levels of ethical values.” And academics concluded in the Journal of Psychology that there was a link between “political liberalism” and “lying in your own self-interest,” based on a study involving 156 adults.

Liberals were more willing to “let others take the blame” for their own ethical lapses, “copy a published article” and pass it off as their own, and were more accepting of “cheating on an exam,” according to still another study in the Journal of Business Ethics.

Now, I’m not suggesting that all conservatives are honest and all liberals are untrustworthy. But clearly a gap exists in the data. Why? The quick answer might be that liberals are simply being more honest about their dishonesty.

However attractive this explanation might be for some, there is simply no basis for accepting this explanation. Validation studies, which attempt to figure out who misreports on academic surveys and why, has found no evidence that conservatives are less honest. Indeed, validation research indicates that Democrats tend to be less forthcoming than other groups."

Scot S - the unborn child who has done no harm to anyone - the definition of innocence as compared to a murderer. Who has the warped morals?

Your comment on medical testing on animals - the libs are in favor of this also 52/48.

As far as your comment on divorce and "their party" - remember that the elected officials of the Republican party represent a small portion of conservatives (just as democratic elected officals represent a small portion of the liberal population).

A higher % of libs are more in favor of abortion than of buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur.

Five times as many libs are in favor of polygamy but boy were they howling at Mitt Romney being a Mormon.

Strange finding that a lot more people find suicde acceptable as long as a doctor is assisting

Another poorly focused poll, that's that is not asking the right questions !! Why didn't they ask the Ridiculous Republicans how they feel about the brutalization and decimation of Iraq !??They would have probably told you that, they were making a strategic correction in the moral life of that country !!
I would to cite a different moral decline of America, that of those Americans making 3.4 Billion dollars a year, or CEOs making 200-300 Million a year, on a retirement package!! Or how about the Millions and Millions of Americans that are without healthcare and group of Americans that are under-insured. Those things do point to a very serious moral problem in America. That is not the moral problems the Ridiculous Republicans want to point to though, they want to point their finger at the working class and the middle class and blame them for everything they think is wrong with America !! How can you expect a high moral standard in our country when our elected officials are the biggest liars, thieves and hypocrites in America today!! Unfortunately, for the Ridiculous Republicans and their Lying Machine, they are the ones that have been in power for the better part of the last eight years. They must shoulder the blame for America's decline, in so many areas, including her morals !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

Who else but Republicans and conservatives decry the state of moral values. It always comes up around election time. They get on their high horses and get in a tizzy about declining moral values, crime running rampant, and ethical behavior in the toilet. Then they all band together to cry for more reforms, want more prisons, want more regulation of bedroom behavior, and want the church to oversee the government. Unfortunately the right wing get Bible thumpers, and gun toters worked up and steal the elections.
Then we get the Tom Delays, the Larry Craigs, the Mark Foleys, Randy Cunninghams, etc. etc. etc. breaking the laws as fast as they write the laws. Then the people go back and thump their Bibles, holster their guns, and repeat the cycle again.

Of COURSE Conservatives are critical of everyone else's morals. The key part of it is "EVERYONE ELSE'S." As in "why can't you just be perfect, like us?" Conservatives have been critical of other people's morals for as long as I can remember (and, considering I baby-sat for God, that's pretty long indeed). It's what allowed them to howl over President Clinton's extramarital sexuality while their own affairS were quite acceptable. It's why they find ways to want to legislate morals everytime they turn around (but only to ENFORCE the legislation when it's not one of their own). It's why they see things as only black & white, all good, all bad, with no allowances given for anything in between.

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